Carrot cake

Who can control the temptation of a beautifully coloured moist carrot cake with a tinge of cinnamon, topped with a contrastingly sweet layer of cream cheese? So I wasn’t to be blamed on the day before we left Qatar for good, when nearly half of the carrot cake that our family friend, Zareenammai, had brought for dessert disappeared even before the ladies had finished their dinner.

After coming to India, the taste of that perfect carrot cake still lingered in my mouth. When I could no more control the urge, I emailed Zareenammai for the recipe, and she sent it to me. And when I read it, I was shocked to read that 1 ½ cups of oil in it. It dampened my spirits...but for just a couple of months. After that, I was like, chalo, it is not like I eat it every day. And so I prepared it, and no, I was not disappointed at all. It was simply perfect. Extremely moist, very spicy(I added more cinnamon than what was called for in the recipe) and the cream cheese couldn’t have been better. Mmmm....I don’t need to type any more words!

Carrot cake
Ingredients:
2 cups of flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups oil
3 cups carrot shredded
2 tsp vanilla extract
Method:
Combine all the dry ingredients and mix properly with a whisk. Keep aside.
In a blender beat eggs. Add oil and beat again ,then add vanilla and carrot and mix well.
Then slowly fold in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
Bake in a preheated oven in 170 degree for around 40 minutes or till a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Topping:

Ingredients:
6 cube or triangle cheese
4 tsp sugar
4 tsp butter
4 tsp milk
2 dream whip sachet
1/2 cup water

Method:
Beat thoroughly the above ingredients and spread it over the cooled cake.
Sprinkle mixed chopped nuts on top.
Let it set for 2 or 3 hrs.

I'd planned to sprinkle the nuts just before serving, but when I returned from college, the cake had already been attacked.